PORTLAND, Maine — The owner of a Maine diner says she’s not sorry for yelling at a 21-month-old child for crying in her restaurant because it got the girl to be quiet.

Darla Neugebauer, owner of Marcy’s Diner in Portland, is defending her actions after a backlash on social media among people who say they’ll never eat at the restaurant again.

Neugebauer wrote on Facebook that the girl had been crying for more than 40 minutes by the time she slammed her hands on the counter and told the girl to be quiet.

“And her parents looked at me and said, ‘are you screaming at a child?’ she told WCSH-TV. “Yes I am. And she shut up.”

Neugebauer told WCSH-TV that the parents ordered three full-sized pancakes for the child but ignored her, and she claimed they didn’t feed her after the food arrived.

She said on the restaurant’s Facebook page that she tried to drop hints that they should leave before confronting them directly.

Facebook

“I brought over boxes for the all important three full-sized pancakes and omelettes no one has eaten because they are too busy talking and ignoring their screaming child,” she wrote on the café’s Facebook page, “and said ‘either all of you need to go or just her,’ pointing to the beast that for that moment someone was actually paying attention to her was silent!”

“Life’s full of choices,” Neugebauer said in her TV interview after the confrontation, “and you’ve got to live with all of them. I chose to yell at a kid, it made her shut-up, which made me happy, it made my staff happy, it made the 75 other people dining here happy, and they left, they may never come back, other people may not come in. Their loss really.”

The girl’s mother, Tara Carson, wrote on Facebook that anyone with young children should understand that crying is normal after waiting such a long time for food.

“I turned to my daughter and I was like `Listen, this is how I’m raising you not to be as an adult. Like, you will never be like this when you get older,'” Carson said. “I felt helpless as a mom that, you know, I couldn’t do anything to help her, because I can’t explain why there’s crazy people in this world that behave like that.”

The Lodge is an adorable retro-chic redesign of a classic 1970s motor lodge. A secluded and relatively quiet getaway, except for the antics of children, it is about one kilometre from Dock Square at the centre of Kennebunkport. The hotel is perched atop Chick’s Cove — hence the name — that connects to the Kennebunk River.

It is a family-friendly micro-resort with 30 rooms, including one suite with a kitchenette. It’s all built around three social hubs: a salt-water swimming pool, a clubhouse with games, books and movie nights and The Dory bar-restaurant. As you would at a motel, you pull your car up and park in front of your room, and unload all your beach gear, so it’s convenient.

It’s summer, so the beach is a must. The Lodge supplies chairs and towels for use at any of the Kennebunk beaches and also parking permits for the Kennebunk Beach, about three kilometres away.

The 30 guest rooms are divvied up into three buildings so you can find a romantic nest, but the Lodge also has lots to do for kids. The pool is the star attraction and the hotel also offers free bicycles, evening bonfires with s’mores, daily activities and live bands on weekends.

Extra-large, the guest rooms have fresh country-style or nautical decor, with hand-painted wallpaper and headboards, plus flat-screen televisions and the convenience of microwaves, mini-refrigerators and coffee machines. The Dory doesn’t operate in the morning, but coffee and muffins are on the house in the clubhouse Café and breakfast sandwiches and fruit are for sale.

Kennebunkport Resort CollectionThe 30 guest rooms at the Lodge on the Cove in Kennebunkport, Maine, have a coastal vibe with colours of the sea and sand.

The Dory is open-air and diner-style with white furniture splashed with lime, red and aqua.

The menu features all-American comfort food like BLTs, grilled cheese sandwiches, kosher hotdogs, spicy wings, along with sides like sweet-potato ’tater tots, potato salad, onion rings and milkshakes. The build-your-own burgers can be veggie, chicken, beef or fish, and topped with bacon, cheddar, sour cream and chives, roasted tomatoes or jalapenos. The Scupper is a fancy favourite, with prosciutto and caramelized onions. We’re in Maine, so lobster is paramount in lobster salads and lobster sliders. There is a kids’ menu, too.

The Dory doubles as a bar with such specials as Boozie Smoothies, the Dark and Stormy cocktail (rum and ginger beer) and the Blueberry Cooler (vodka, lemonade and Maine berries).

For a compact property, The Lodge organizes a lot of fun mini-events to keep everyone engaged: on Sundays, an all-day Bloody Mary bar for grown-ups and Sundae Funday for the kids; on Mondays, Bingo Baby at 5 p.m. with Happy Hour bar prices and prizes; on Tuesdays there is a movie flashback to the 1980s; on Wednesdays, burgers are $1 off and ping-pong at 5 p.m.; Thursdays is a bean bag tourney; Fridays feature Happy Hour and Reggae Night; and on Saturdays, local bands rock the house, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

There are off-property happenings, too, with a very Maine accent.

The Little Explorers Farm to Sea package includes a tour of an organic farm and beachcombing excursion. Kids love to explore the tidal pools at the Colony Beach — it’s an up-close view of small-scale sea life. The hotel supplies a guide to marine life and basic equipment like a net and bucket (for catch and release).

For landlubbers who are unfamiliar with this pastime, the pools are particularly fascinating when the tide goes out every six hours and you can wade around, discovering tiny sea life like starfish, snails and hermit crabs among the seaweed, and barnacles on the rocks. This outdoorsy land-and-sea day winds up with the ultimate summertime treat — an ice cream sundae at The Dory.

The Lodge’s Teen Dream package includes lessons on paddleboards or surfboards at Kennebunk Beach from the experts at Aquaholics.

The Eleanor — Gee, I Think You’re Swell! package features a thrilling two-hour cruise on the high seas on the 20-passenger schooner Eleanor. You’ll have a picnic basket of lobster rolls and sparkling wine; all you need to add is sunscreen and a jacket.

IF YOU GO

Kennebunkport is a five-and-a-half drive from Montreal via U.S. Highways 89 and 93 and Route 101 east to U.S. 95 north.

The Lodge on the Cove: 800-879-5778, lodgeonthecove.com; 29 S. Main St., Kennebunkport, Maine.

Kennebunkport Resort Collection/ Destination Kennebunkport: 800-573-7186, destinationkennebunkport.com, kennebunkportresortcollection.com links services of Hidden Pond and The Tides Beach Club on Goose Rocks Beach. In Kennebunkport, guests at the Grand Hotel, the Kennebunkport Inn, The Cottages at Cabot Cove and The Boathouse Waterfront Hotel share the swimming pools at The Cape Arundel Inn & Resort or the Lodge at the Cove. The KRC Supper Shuttle links properties for people who do not want to dine and drive.

This is an exceptional boutique resort, relaxed, contemporary and directly on a tiny bay of the Atlantic with a full beach. It has a comprehensive spa, a popular bar and a new chef. It’s serene, sociable and sophisticated, but also kid-friendly and very pet-friendly.

The gorgeous oceanfront Sea Glass dining room and the fireplace lounge have been overhauled with new lighting, carpets, artwork — and most importantly, a new chef.

Inn by the SeaInn by the Sea, on the southern tip of Portland, Maine, is a luxurious hotel and spa on the Atlantic shore.

Executive chef Steve Sicinski worked most recently at Topnotch Resort & Spa in Vermont and previously at the upscale spa Mii Amo in Arizona. He is creating delish menus featuring local lobster, bone-in filet mignon and crispy duck breast, sea scallops and monkfish.

The social calendar includes jazz concerts on the lawn (early evenings, July 5, Aug. 9 and Sept. 7). Signature drinks include the blueberry martini and the S’moretini for kids. Lobster Bakes will feature traditional Maine potato cakes, homemade sausages, corn chowder with Lobster from Alewives Farm next door

Inn by the Sea is the most pet-friendly hotel I know. Fanny Turley Groffiths, my fair-weather hiking pal who just happens to be a pretty golden Lab, loves the Doggie Happy Hour and L.L. Bean dog blankets.

And during the last two weeks of October, the beachfront pool is closed to people and open for pets for a watery romp. Fanny has already made her reservation, looking forward to bites of Meat Roaf, Bird Dog and Canine Ice Cream.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/portlands-inn-by-the-sea-welcomes-you-and-your-dog/feed0stdPet-friendly Inn by the Sea, on the southern tip of Portland, Maine, has Doggie Happy Hour and a menu of Meat Roaf, Bird Dog and Canine Ice Cream.Inn by the SeaTransformation blends history with contemporary cool at Whitehall in Camden, Mainehttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/transformation-blends-history-with-contemporary-cool-at-whitehall-in-camden-maine
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The genteel small hotel Whitehall, which originally opened in the mid-Maine coast hot spot of Camden in 1901, has reincarnated into an interesting boutique hotel that perfectly blends history and charm with contemporary cool.

Reopened this spring after a major overhaul, the historic white cottage once again represents high country-style comfort, with fine American-inspired cuisine, pub life and 36 attractive, colourful guest rooms and suites.

Whitehall was built for gentrified lounging, so there is a wealth of relaxation spaces including salons, a broad veranda overlooking a tree-lined residential street and two magical outdoor lounges with nighttime firepits blazing under the stars.

The redesign is both folksy and fashionable, incorporating an eclectic collection of furniture and highlights of modern design with an antique background.

Boston-based Rachel Reider Interiors mixed Maine art and crafts, interesting textures of grasscloth and aged wood, and cheery, patterned fabrics in deep red, sky blue and grass green. The art is a constantly-changing homage to the local landscapes of Penobscot Bay and Mount Battie.

The accommodations are equipped with simply everything – bathrobes, corkscrews, Apple TV for the flat-screens and air-conditioning. The variety of rooms includes one with an extra bed for a child and two that share a bathroom for economy. Some second-floor rooms have water views.

Chef Sam Talbot features Maine-centric goodies at the Pig + Poet, whose name is a tribute to Edna St. Vincent Millay, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who gave her first reading at Whitehall Inn in 1912.

Guests feast on classics — raw bar delicacies, lobster rolls, charcuterie, clam chowder and blueberry cobbler — as well as Talbot’s new American creations such as grilled clams with Nori butter and mustard, “cowboy” steak with Japanese eggplant and smoked garlic, and his signature dish of roast porchetta with egg and hot sauce.

A Halloween-themed hayride loaded with holiday revelers crashed down a hill in the Maine woods and slammed into a tree, fatally injuring a teenage girl and leaving more than 20 other people hurt, police said Sunday.

Seventeen-year-old Cassidy Charette of Oakland died from injuries sustained when a haunted hayride wagon hurtled down a steep hill and overturned Saturday night at a rural farm in Mechanic Falls, state police said.

Cassidy was among a group of Messalonskee High School students who travelled to Harvest Hills Farm to take the Halloween-themed ride, the Gauntlet Haunted Night Ride, state police spokesman Steve McCausland. Another student from the school – 16-year-old Connor Garland of Belgrade – was seriously injured and was being treated at Boston Children’s Hospital.

The hayride was going down a “very steep” hill when the crash happened, leaving riders with injuries that included broken legs and head injuries, said Joel Davis, a sergeant with the state fire marshals office.

AP Photo/Maine Today, Gabe SouzaEmergency personnel work at the site of a hayride rollover that killed a teen and injured multiple people at Harvest Hill Farms in Mechanic Falls Saturday.

The crash “threw everyone off the trailer and into each other and into trees,” Davis said. He added that witnesses reported the vehicle was moving “very fast.”

The driver who was hauling the flatbed trailer with an SUV, David Brown, 54, of South Paris, remained hospitalized Sunday. Brown is an experienced trucker who has a commercial driver’s licence, according to a spokesman for the farm.

The sprawling New England farm is set on a forested hill in a rural area about 40 kilometres southwest of Augusta, set back from a two-lane road. A three-metre, caged monster statue stands at the entrance to the haunted attraction. The farm also features Pumpkin Land – a daytime attraction.

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Farm spokesman Scott Lansley said Sunday he’s not sure the popular autumn attractions will reopen this year.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family,” Lansley said. “We’re a tight community. This is really a tragedy for us.”

In addition to the driver, Lansley said the tour’s narrator was among those injured.

The owners have been hosting the haunted ride for about five years without incident, Lansley said. He said Saturday night was a busy night for the ride, with more than 500 patrons. The entire park was evacuated after the crash, he said.

AP Photo/Patrick WhittleGates that lead to the Gauntlet Haunted Night Ride at Harvest Hills Farm in Mechanic Falls, Me., are open Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, although the farm was closed after a Halloween-themed hayride crashed into a tree Saturday night, killing a teenage girl and leaving more than 20 other people injured, police said Sunday.

Investigators remained at the scene Sunday reconstructing the accident. Many of those injured have been treated and released from area hospitals, police said.

A mechanical problem may have contributed to the accident, authorities said. State fire marshals inspect and licence mechanical amusement rides in Maine, but hayrides do not require such licencing.

McCausland said the state fire marshal is inspecting the trailer and interviewing farm employees and the injured riders. State police are inspecting the SUV that was hauling the flatbed.

McCausland said alcohol does not appear to have played a role in the crash.

PORTLAND, Maine — A veterinarian and co-founder of Hope Elephants, which cares for retired circus elephants, was killed when one of the animals stepped on him, police said in ruling his death an accident.

Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputies said they found James Laurita, 56, unresponsive Tuesday in the barn at the foundation in Hope, about 150 kilometres northeast of Portland.

Laurita appeared to have fallen before one of the foundation’s two elephants apparently stepped on him, police said, citing a medical examiner’s report.

Tending to the animals was part of Laurita’s daily routine at the facility he founded with his brother Tom in 2011. Hope Foundation’s two Asian elephants, Rosie and Opal, arrived in 2012.

Jim’s passion for all animals, but especially elephants, was boundless

“The elephant was not aggressive in any way. It was clearly an accident,” said Mark Belserene, administrator for the state medical examiner’s office, who added that the official cause of death is “asphyxiation and multiple fractures caused by compression of the chest.”

Laurita sold his veterinarian practice in nearby Camden in 2011 to establish Hope Elephants, where he worked as a caregiver and educator. He lived with his family in the area.

Laurita had worked with Opal and Rosie decades ago when he was an elephant handler for the traveling Carson & Barnes Circus.

County Chief Deputy Tim Carroll described Laurita as “greatly beloved in the community for all the work he does.” Hope Elephants released a statement saying the organization was “deeply saddened” by the loss of its founder.

“Jim’s passion for all animals, but especially elephants, was boundless,” the statement said.

Laurita “passed on his passion and the importance of wildlife conservation” through his educational outreach efforts, it said.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/elephant-veterinarian-crushed-to-death-after-being-stepped-on-at-sanctuary/feed0stdJim Laurita, executive director and co-founder of Hope Elephants, feeds a carrot to one of the two retired circus elephants at his not-for-profit rehabilitation and educational facility in Hope, Maine.New Ireland: How Maine almost became part of Canada at the end of the War of 1812http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/new-ireland-how-maine-almost-became-part-of-canada-at-the-end-of-the-war-of-1812
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CASTINE, Me. — A tiny history museum in this Maine town is reminding Canadians of what could have been, mounting an exhibition on the little-known story of a lost Canadian province: New Ireland.

British forces in pre-Confederation Canada seized Northern Maine during the final months of the War of 1812, sensing little local ability to resist and well aware of the strategic value of controlling the region separating Quebec and New Brunswick.

Had the land-grab succeeded, it would have yielded roughly 50,000 square kilometres of territory — an area two-thirds the size of present-day New Brunswick. And it would have had a profound impact not just on the location of Canada’s East Coast border, but on the country’s future economic development and, possibly, the timing of Confederation itself.

“If British diplomats and strategic thinkers had been more strongly committed to this idea, a very alternative outcome is easy to imagine,” said Liam Riordan, a professor of history at the University of Maine, Orono.

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Castine, located at the mouth of the Penobscot River and the key to the region, was seized 200 years ago this week. Its defenders were hopelessly outnumbered – barely 100 soldiers and militiamen faced some 2,500 redcoats and a dozen Royal Navy warships.

The American commander prudently ordered a parting shot from the four guns at his disposal and fled inland.

The invasion force had been dispatched from Halifax to push the border between the United States and Britain’s American colonies about 160 kilometres southward, from today’s boundary at the St. Croix River to the Penobscot.

The British had plenty of history on their side. The Penobscot, which crosses central Maine, was the original boundary between Massachusetts and Acadia, and a disputed one. From 1613 to the mid-1700s Castine seesawed between French and English rule and, at one point, the settlement was in Dutch hands.

The British occupied the town during the final years of the American Revolution and planned make the region a haven for Loyalist refugees. The new colony even had a name – New Ireland. The Treaty of Paris handed over the area to the Americans in 1783, but the idea of extending British control into Maine refused to die.

“There’s kind of a natural frontier at the Penobscot,” says George F.W. Young, a retired Saint Mary’s University history professor and author of a recent book on the Maine expedition. The invaders of 1814 “wanted to extend the border back down to what they thought was the historic frontier.”

Their attack was part of a wider offensive — Castine was captured a week after the burning of Washington — designed to give the Americans “a good drubbing,” as one British commander put it, as punishment for starting the war.

The British occupied Maine for eight months. Nova Scotia Governor John Coape Sherbrooke, who led the invasion, garrisoned Castine and established a provisional government.

Like much of New England, the town had been opposed to the war, notes Paige Lilly, curator of the Castine Historical Society, which staged this summer’s exhibition to mark the anniversary of the capture.

Maine merchants, who had resorted to smuggling with the Maritime colonies to skirt wartime embargoes, “saw the British occupation as an opportunity … to begin to make money again.”

Many Mainers took an oath of allegiance to the king, or at least promised to remain neutral. British officers were quartered in some of the fine homes that still stand in Castine and theatre troupes were imported from Halifax to entertain soldiers and residents.

Peace negotiations were underway in Ghent and it was possible the territory would be ceded when a treaty was signed. A travel route along the Saint John River Valley — a crucial link between Upper and Lower Canada and the Maritimes in winter, when ice clogged the St. Lawrence River — would be better protected. And Maine’s forests offered the pine masts prized by naval shipbuilders.

But the British government was weary of the war and fearful that Napoleon would return to power in France (he did, only to lose the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815). The St. Croix River border was restored and Maine’s boundary would eventually extend north toward the St. Lawrence, almost cutting off the Maritimes from central Canada.

Castine Historical SocietyA Maine shipowner signed this oath of allegiance to the British during the occupation.

British forces withdrew from Castine in April 1815, taking with them £10,000 in customs duties collected during the occupation. The windfall was used to establish Halifax’s Dalhousie University in 1818.

“I often feel that it takes forever to get to Canada,” jokes Ms. Lilly, who notes that had Castine remained British and become part of this country, “we’d already be there.”

Mark Zuehlke, for one, has considered the “what ifs.” The Victoria-based writer, whose books include For Honour’s Sake, an account of the War of 1812 peace talks, points out that returning occupied Maine created an “illogical” boundary that drives a wedge between Quebec and the Maritimes and forces travelers to take roundabout, time-consuming routes.

“It almost makes more of a border sense to go straight across, from Sherbrooke (Quebec) to the coast,” says Mr. Zuehlke. Railways — and eventually, highways – could have followed shorter, all-Canadian routes from Montreal to the Maritimes.

Inserting a British colony, a New Ireland, between Quebec and New Brunswick could have reoriented trade along east-west lines. And better communications links might have brought Canadians closer together — and planted the idea of nation-building – long before the drive for Confederation that culminated in 1867.

“There was an inwardness that might have broken down had there been better, easier communication between Upper and Lower Canada and the Maritime colonies,” says Mr. Zuehlke. “Confederation would have probably come more quickly, because there would have been this integration that didn’t happen until the late 1850s.”

Cory Guimond was sitting in his office at Millennium Marine’s brand new boat works in Eastport, Maine, returning messages, answering calls and handling the incoming orders for custom-built fishing boats that have been coming in fast.

From California, from Washington state, from all parts, here and there, around the east and western American seaboards, calls keep coming in to an operation that has only been up and running in Eastport for two weeks. The paint is still drying around the new place, which used to be an old textile factory, and the workers are new, too. All locals, all from Maine, and all eager to get cracking at a full-time job building boats that pays $12 an hour at the low end and $20 at the top.

“Ten people are working for me now,” Mr. Guimond says. “I am hoping that number will be 20 in another month, or so, and there they will be another round of hiring once we really get set up here. I have had 50, 60 applications come in. And they are all good applicants. Some bring skills, like electrical, or mechanical, but the majority of them just have a good, strong work ethic. They may have been clamming, or painting, or doing whatever they had to do to survive here. It’s not like they can hang around collecting a pogey cheque.

“Around here, when it comes to working, it seems to be like how it was back home decades ago.”

Courtesy of Cory GuimondCory Guimond's grandfather, Philias, started Millenium Marine — known then as Guimond Boats — in the 1940s in Escuminac, New Brunswick.

Home, for Cory Guimond, is across the border in Escuminac, N.B., about a four-hour drive from Eastport. It is where his grandfather, Philias, started Millennium Marine — known then as Guimond Boats — in the 1940s before handing the business to his son, also a Philias, who hated the name and went by Phil. Phil passed away in 1995 and Cory Guimond took over. The 39-year-old is a third generation New Brunswick boat builder, a fact he is damn proud of. At best count, he built half the 81 fishing boats tied up to the wharf in his home community, perched on the south shore of Miramichi Bay. He employed upwards of 30 people, at times, and he would still be in Escuminac building boats now, he says, if he could just find enough willing bodies to get the job done.

“One of the main reasons I came down here was to find workers,” Mr. Guimond says. “A lot of that has to do with Alberta, with young people in New Brunswick moving out West where the better money is, and so there is a dwindling population.

“But then when you can also get $400 a week back home for doing nothing, why would you go to work for me for an extra hundred bucks? That’s the mentality back home. And it is a shame. But that is what it is. There are some really great workers there, but the unemployment rate during winter — it’s got to be north of 20%.”

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In fact, it is 21.7%, according to Statistics Canada, a staggering figure more than three times the national unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for New Brunswick youth, meanwhile, is the highest in the country. Part of the problem appears to be that there aren’t many jobs to begin with. But the other part of the problem, as Mr. Guimond suggests, appears to be that nobody wants to do the jobs that there are, or were — like building boats for $12-20 an hour.

Not to pick on fishermen, but: a self-employed fisherman who earns $3,000 during a work period — aka a fishing season that, for example, runs from May-June and August-October in Escuminac — is eligible for unemployment insurance. So, say you are 55 and beaten down, physically, by years on the boats, and too tied down by family to go to Alberta during the off-season — and the government is willing to pay you not to work. Or say you are 20, did your time on the boats and just had a kid or have a crush on a local girl and want to stay home for the winter — and the government is willing to pay you not to work. Well, what would you do? Go to work putting fiberglass on fishing boats for 12 bucks an hour?

Or?

These are the type of hypothetical questions that don’t get asked in Eastport.

‘People in Maine do what needs to be done’

“Millennium Marine coming here is a win economically and a win for the community because it really reaffirms Eastport’s boat-building heritage,” says Chris Gardner, director of the Eastport port authority. “People might say it’s only 10, it is only 20 jobs, but that has huge repercussions for a community of less than 1,500 people.

“Eastport has always been known for its work ethic. People in Maine do what needs to be done.”

Cory Guimond, the new employer in town, has already been invited to a local family’s home for dinner. He has found an apartment, started hiring, started building Guimond boats on the Maine side of the international map. He has never felt more welcome. He has never felt so far away from home.

“I am a third generation boat builder,“ he says. “I have a lot of pride being from Escuminac, a lot of pride, and if I could have stayed, I would have. And I battled. I tried to find workers. And I don’t think Canadians are lazy. Most of us are very hard workers, with a good work ethic.

Paul Oberman gained fame buying, restoring and leasing out historic buildings such as the Summerhill train station that is now an LCBO.

Vicki Griffiths/Vicbar Marketing LimitedPaul Oberman

About 20 years ago Mr. Oberman hired Eve Lewis, owner of Urbanation and Market Vision Real Estate, to help him sell condos. The two fell in love, pooled their kids (his three and her three, ranging from two to eight years old) and married.

“Before I met Paul I thought I was an incredible risk-taker,” says Ms. Lewis now. “Then when he came along, I figured one of us would need to have a steady income.”

So she stuck to selling condos. With his company, Woodcliffe Landmark Properties, Mr. Oberman continued buying fixer-uppers. About seven years ago he bought four buildings on the west side of Market Street, just across from St. Lawrence Market.

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Those buildings included the former Armory Hotel, built in 1858, later the Old Fish Market. A developer had won permission to demolish it for an 11-storey condo, but Mr. Oberman chose to restore the two-storey building instead.

On March 7, 2011, Mr. Oberman and a pilot flew from Halifax to Quebec City in Mr. Oberman’s Diamond plane. Having delivered Evan, Mr. Oberman’s eldest son, to Dalhousie University, Mr. Oberman was returning to Toronto.

“It’s a very sad story,” says Ms. Lewis. “There was ice on the wings.” The plane crashed in Maine. The pilot survived. Mr. Oberman died.

Brett Gundlock/National PostThe Summerhill LCBO, is one of the buildings Paul Oberman restored.

Ms. Lewis grieved the love of her life. To help her cope, she also rolled up her sleeves.

“I went in to run his company a week after he died,” she says. “My goal for his family was to complete it with the vision that he had for this street.”

Aaron Lynett / National PostThe buildings restored by Eve Lewis are near St. Lawrence market.

We are sitting in Bindia Indian Bistro, the first tenants in the new space, along with a big new LCBO. Other eateries coming here include Balzac coffee, Patizza (from the owners of Mistura on Davenport Road) and Market Street Catch, a fish restaurant.

What Mr. Oberman and Ms. Lewis have achieved is sublime. They saved history, and, working with the City of Toronto, created a sidewalk-free cobblestone street. From May 1 to Sept. 1, parking will make way for restaurant patios. It feels already like Ghent or New Orleans.

Most developers in Toronto ask: “Why restore when you can demolish?” Mr. Oberman is different. In 2010 he lay down to stop a bulldozer from wrecking Department of National Defence hangars at Downsview. Police dragged him away.

Still, Ms. Lewis says he was far from quixotic.

“He would spend a lot more money than anyone is ever willing to do,” she says. “There is an appreciation from the tenants who go into these buildings that they are way more expensive than something that is a block away.”

She has now caught the restoration bug. “I’m now ready to acquire more heritage buildings that we could restore, now that I’ve learned the business.”

Ms. Lewis is moving on in other ways, too. She has listed, for $12.8-million, the 18,000 square-foot home at 30 Rosedale Road where she and Mr. Oberman raised the kids. This time she is taking a bath. “Paul’s costs alone had to be $20-million,” she says. “It has 11 bathrooms. We flew all over the world finding the right marble.”

National Post

Tim Fraser for National PostEve Lewis, owner of Woodcliffe Landmark Properties, is seen here along Market Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Monday Feb. 3, 2014, which is undergoing a dramatic transformation.

School officials violated state anti-discrimination law when they would not allow a transgender fifth-grader to use the girls’ bathroom, Maine’s highest court has ruled.

The family of student Nicole Maines and the Maine Human Rights Commission sued in 2009 after school officials required her to use a staff, not student, restroom.

“This is a momentous decision that marks a huge breakthrough for transgender young people,” said Jennifer Levi, director of the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders’ Transgender Rights Project after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling on Thursday.

A huge breakthrough for transgender young people

The court concluded that the Orono school district’s actions violated the Maine Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, overturning a lower court’s ruling that the district acted within its discretion.

The ruling represented the first time a state high court concluded that a transgender person should use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify, according to GLAD. Federal courts haven’t taken up the issue.

Students at the southern Maine high school Nicole now attends stood up and cheered when news of the ruling was announced, said her father, Wayne Maines.

School administrators across the country are grappling with the issue.

Colorado officials said last year that a suburban Colorado Springs school district discriminated against a 6-year-old transgender girl by preventing her from using the girls’ bathroom.

In California, there’s an effort afoot to try to repeal a law that allows public school students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their expressed genders.

In the Maine case, Nicole Maines was using the girls’ bathroom in her elementary school until the grandfather of a fifth-grade boy complained to administrators. The Orono school district determined that she should use a staff bathroom, but her parents said that amounted to discrimination.

Nicole is a biological male who identified as a girl beginning at age 2.

Nicole, who’s now 16, said after arguments before the high court last summer that she hoped the justices understood the importance of going to school, getting an education and making friends without having to be “bullied” by other students – or school administrators.

Nicole’s father said all he had ever wanted was for his daughter to be treated just like her classmates. He said he was overcome with emotion when he learned of the decision.

“It sends a message to my kids that you can believe in the system and that it can work,” Wayne Maines said. “I’m just going to hug my kids and enjoy the moment, and do some healing.”

Melissa Hewey, lawyer for the school district, said the ruling provided clarity not just to Orono, but to schools around the state.

“The court has now clarified what has been a difficult issue and is a more and more common in schools, and the Orono School Department is going to do what it needs to do to comply with the law,” she said.

In the 5-1 ruling, the court had to reconcile two separate state laws, one requiring separate bathrooms based on gender and the other prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In this case, where there the child had a formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria, “it has been clearly established that a student’s psychological well-being and educational success depend upon being permitted to use the communal bathroom consistent with her gender identity,” Justice Warren Silver wrote.

The Supreme Judicial Court pointed out that its ruling was based on the circumstances of the case in which there was ample documentation of the student’s gender identity. “Our opinion must not be read to require schools to permit students casual access to any bathroom of their choice,” he wrote.

AP Photo/ Somerset County Sheriffís DepartmentThis booking photo provided by the Somerset County Sheriff's Department shows Dennis Lalime, arrested Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, when returning from a Halloween party made up as "The Joker," and charged with drunken driving after crashing his car in Pittsfield, Maine.

PITTSFIELD, Maine —Police didn’t need Batman to help them arrest the Joker in central Maine over the weekend.

A man returning from a Halloween party and wearing makeup like the Joker was charged with drunken driving after crashing his car in Pittsfield early Sunday.

Police say 64-year-old Dennis Lalime lost control of his car at about 2 a.m., then struck multiple trees and rocks before coming to a rest. Lalime wasn’t injured.

The Morning Sentinelreports that a nearby homeowner heard the crash and called police, who arrested Lalime on an operating under the influence charge.

In his booking photo, Lalime’s face is painted white, with dark circles around his eyes, and his hair is dyed bright green, just like the Batman villain.

On Sunday night, a 16-year-old boy in the Ottawa-area town of Eganville allegedly stole a 2002 Chevy Avalanche to go pick up his 13-year-old girlfriend in Pembroke, a 30-minute drive to the north.

Two stolen cars, three police chases, a hail of gunfire and one international border later, the couple’s 24-hour crime spree was brought to an end in a river outside Kingfield, Maine, more than 500 kilometres from where they started.

As of Tuesday night, none of the dozens of U.S. and Canadian officers who spent the holiday Monday chasing down the minors had any idea “what their intentions were, or where they were headed,” according to a statement by Maine law enforcement.

It was on the western edge of Ottawa early Monday morning that the pair first caught the attention of law enforcement when they were seen driving the Chevy Avalanche down a rural stretch of Carling Avenue, repeatedly swerving the vehicle into the opposing lane.

The gold-coloured SUV had been reported stolen the night before from Eganville. The 13-year-old girlfriend, meanwhile, had only just been reported missing by her stepfather.

Officers tried to pull over the mystery vehicle, but it sped off. Following standard procedure, the officers gave up the chase due to public safety, spokesman Const. Marc Sousy told the Post.

The Avalanche was later found abandoned in a liquor store parking lot.

Unbeknownst to Ottawa-area police, however, the pair had stolen another car and spent the day making their way across the entire length of southern Quebec.

At 9 p.m., this second stolen car screamed through the small border crossing station at Coburn Gore, Maine, just 30 minutes of the disaster-stricken community of Lac Megantic, Que.

The speeding car slammed into a Border Patrol car before leading agents on a 160 km/h chase along Maine Route 27, a scenic two-lane blacktop running directly through the main streets of small-town Maine.

Outside the village of Stratton, the fugitives briefly got the upper hand when they immobilized a second Border Patrol vehicle before disappearing into the night as Border Patrol officers drew their weapons and fired repeatedly in its direction.

State Police and Sheriff’s deputies quickly converged on the next largest town, Kingfield, where they found the car abandoned, and immediately set to sealing off all roads surrounding the 1,000-person ski resort community.

But it was already too late.

Ten kilometres to the south, in New Portland, State Police Lieut. Aaron Hayden spotted a Dodge pickup driving erratically.

“He thought it was being driven by a drunk driver,” said Steve McCausland with the Maine Department of Public Safety. “He pursued it not knowing the kids were inside.”

‘It was a mini Bonnie and Clyde thing’

The pickup truck, police would later discover, had been stolen in Kingfield only a few blocks away from the site of the first abandoned car.

With virtually all of Northern Maine on high alert, the chase was brought to an end by a well-laid spike mat, blowing out two of the pickup’s tires.

Officers kept up “low-speed contact” as the stricken vehicle limped along on rims. After it struck a second spike mat, though, the driver pulled over and the teens made a desperate jump over a highway guardrail, where they tumbled down a rocky embankment and into Maine’s Carrabassett River.

Amazingly, after bullets, spike strips and three jurisdictions’ worth of dangerous, high-speed driving, the pair’s only injuries appear to have been suffered in these final moments.

“It’s not a major river in this state, but it’s still wet,” McCausland said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the girl was in the Maine Medical Center in Portland with possible internal injuries.

The 16-year-old, who reportedly made his first court appearance in a neck brace, is facing charges of eluding an officer, passing a roadblock and aggravated criminal mischief, each of which can carry sentences of up to five years.

The names of the pair have not been released “because of their ages,” according to the Maine Department of Public Safety. Nevertheless, Maine media with access to court documents have published the boy’s name due to the “severity” of the incident.

National Post, with files from Josh Visser and Postmedia News

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-teenage-couple-lead-police-in-two-countries-on-multiple-high-speed-chases-resulting-in-crash-gunfire/feed2stdFile photo: Ottawa police were one of several police agencies that allegedly pursued a Ontario teenage couple.NA1016_TeenChase_C_JRMan allegedly wanted to be a 'hero' when he tried to stage kidnapping, except teen he grabbed diedhttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/man-allegedly-wanted-to-be-a-hero-when-he-tried-to-stage-kidnapping-except-teen-he-grabbed-died
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BANGOR, Maine — A man used a fake Facebook account to lure a teenage girl out of her house in an attempt to stage her kidnapping and rescue so he could look like a hero but ended up killing her, a state police affidavit released Wednesday said.

Kyle Dube was indicted Wednesday on charges of murder and kidnapping in the death of 15-year-old Nichole Cable, whose body was found in a wooded area this month a week after she went missing.

In an affidavit released after Dube was indicted, Detective Thomas Pickering outlined the scenario leading to the high school sophomore’s death. He wrote that Dube told his brother that he used Facebook to trick her into going out of her house while he waited in the woods wearing a ski mask.

When Nichole came along, the 20-year-old Dube jumped out and snatched her, duct-taped her and put her in the back of his father’s pickup truck, the affidavit said. Dube later discovered that she was dead, so he dumped her body and covered it with branches, it said.

The affidavit doesn’t go into details about how Nichole was duct-taped, and the cause of her death is still being determined by the medical examiner’s office.

AP Photo/Portland Press Herald, Gordon ChibroskiKyle Dube, 20, walks into Superior Court in Bangor Maine, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, a day after he was charged with killing 15-year-old Nichole Cable. The body of Cable, who was last seen on May 12, was found in a woods north of Bangor on Monday night. Co-counsel Wendy Hatch is at left and Justice William Anderson sits on the bench.

Dube told his brother that he “intended to kidnap Nichole and hide her; that he would later find her and be the hero,” Pickering wrote.

Dube’s attorney, Stephen Smith, did not immediately return a phone call left at his office Wednesday evening. He had argued for the affidavit to be withheld, citing threats against Dube in jail, concerns about whether he could get a fair trial and fears for the privacy of his relatives.

Earlier on Wednesday, Justice William Anderson had denied a motion by The Associated Press and the Portland Press Herald to unseal the affidavit on First Amendment grounds.

The judge’s original order had sealed the affidavit only until Dube was indicted. When the indictment was handed down, the affidavit was made public.

Nichole was reported missing on May 13 by her mother.

Police interviewed a friend of Nichole’s named Bryan Butterfield, who said somebody had set up a fake Facebook account in his name and he suspected Dube. Butterfield told detectives that Dube wanted to have sex with Nichole but that she had rejected his advances, the affidavit said.

Investigators determined that Nichole had frequent contact with the fake Butterfield on Facebook and that the person posing as Butterfield repeatedly requested to meet with her before she agreed to meet with him at the end of her road to get some marijuana the night she went missing, the affidavit said.

Police asked Facebook officials to produce records to identify the owner of the fake Butterfield account, which was traced to Dube and his parents’ home in Orono.

When a detective interviewed Dube’s girlfriend, Sarah Mersinger, she reported that Dube told her where he left Nichole’s body. Dube’s brother, Dustin Dube, then told police what he knew.

PORTLAND, Maine — The dance instructor who used her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution faces jail time after pleading guilty in a case that captivated a quiet seaside town known for its beaches and picturesque homes.

The plea agreement, which calls for a 10-month sentence, spares Alexis Wright from the prospect of a high-profile trial featuring sex videos, exhibitionism and pornography. She’s scheduled to be sentenced on May 31.

Wright quietly answered “guilty” 20 times on Friday when the judge read the counts, which include engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.

“We’re very satisfied with it. It’s an appropriate outcome, given the gravity of her actions,” Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said after the brief court hearing.

The 30-year-old Wright was accused of conspiring with insurance agent Mark Strong Sr. to run a prostitution business in which she kept detailed records indicating she made $150,000 over an 18-month period. She was also accused of using a hidden camera to record sex acts without her clients’ knowledge.

Joel Page/APMark Strong Sr.

She was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanours, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted this month of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and was sentenced to 20 days in jail. He was originally charged with 59 counts.

The scandal became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, leading to a guessing game of who might be named publicly in the coastal town of Kennebunk. Attorneys who have seen the client list say it included some prominent names. Those who have been charged so far include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.

Working together, Strong and Wright represented an unusual pairing.

Wright had attended college classes and ran dance classes for the local parks and recreation program before opening her studio in Kennebunk. But she was also engaging in paid-sex acts in the studio, in her apartment and in her office, law enforcement officials said.

Robert F. Bukaty / The Associated PressA pizzeria worker is interviewed by a TV crew in front of the former fitness studio where prostitution is alleged to have occurred in Kennebunk, Maine. The police department's plan to release some of the more than 150 names of suspected clients was delayed Friday by last-minute legal wrangling.

Overseeing the operation and watching the sex acts live on his office computer 100 miles up the coast was Strong, a married father of two who ran a successful insurance agency in Thomaston.

It came as no surprise that Wright would seek a plea agreement because evidence presented in Strong’s trial was so overwhelming. A video played for jurors showed Wright engaging in sex acts with a man who then inquired about her rate before leaving $250 cash on her massage table.

After the man left, the video showed Wright pocketing the money.

There was plenty of electronic evidence because the two kept in touch via text and email and because Wright videotaped the clients and Strong watched live via Skype. Videos showed them speaking openly of ledgers, payments and scheduling.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will seek restitution of $57,250 from Wright after she’s released from jail.

Defence lawyer Sarah Churchill said Wright is married and employable, and she expects Wright will be able to enter into a payment plan. Churchill left the courtroom without talking to reporters.

Residents of Kennebunk were frustrated by the media coverage of the scandal.

Names of purported clients trickled out as they were charged, leading to speculation about who else might be on the list. But residents soon grew weary of the media’s attention, especially after it became clear that only a few of clients were locals.

So far, 66 people have been charged as clients, York County Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan said. The state will continue to pursue charges against additional people identified on Wright’s ledger if the evidence is strong enough to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt, she said.

Things have largely returned to normal in Kennebunk. On Friday night, a free dance was being held at Wright’s old Pura Vida Studio, where Zumba continues under new management and a new name, Danceworks.

Jeremiah Ouellette, manager of New Morning Natural Foods Market, across the street from the fitness studio, said residents have put the prostitution episode behind them.

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — A mall in Maine has sacked Santa Claus after children and parents complained he was rude, grumpy and wouldn’t even let one child sit on his lap.

Officials at the Maine Mall in South Portland say they’re looking for a jollier Santa and hope to have him in place Thursday.

Jessica Mailhiot and her six-year-old daughter, Chantel, went to see Santa this week. They tell WGME-TV he was rude and wouldn’t let the girl sit on his lap when they said they didn’t want to buy a $20 photo.

He was the rudest man I ever met

“He just kind of snubbed her,” Jessica told the TV station.

Chantel says when she asked Santa for an American Girl doll, he replied she’d get an “American football.”

“He just put his hands on his lap so I couldn’t go on,” the heartbroken-looking little girl said.

When the mom posted her story on Facebook, it gathered more than a thousand likes and hundreds of comments from people who’d had similar experiences with the man.

My daughter was “terrified” of the man, one mother said on the social network. “He was the rudest man I ever met.”

Home to sea birds, seals, a lighthouse, two Canadian lighthouse keepers, a couple of out buildings and a collection of summer researchers with a particular interest in puffins, Machias Seal Island is, on most days, a tranquil spot.

But every July 4th, Barna Norton, a crusty old sea captain out of Jonesport, Me., used to crank up his vessel, The Chief, and chug towards the island, a 20-acre lump of rock where the Bay of Fundy meets the Gulf of Maine. He would barge ashore with a large golf umbrella emblazoned with an American flag and plant it in front of a Parks Canada sign identifying the island as a Canadian Coast Guard facility.

CLICK TO ENLARGE CLICK TO ENLARGE

“Once again, in front of this sign,’’ he would say, ‘‘I declare that this island belongs to the United States.”

Mr. Norton died eight years ago. But his cause remains. It, and North Rock, another nearby chunk of rock, are the only two pieces of disputed territory between Canada and the United States.

“You can go back to the dark dawn of American history to try and find the roots of this dispute and why it wasn’t resolved, way back then, and the short answer seems to be that no one was really paying attention to Machias Seal Island,” says Stephen Kelly, the associate director of the Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University, who wrote an opinion piece in Tuesday’s New York Times calling on Canada and the U.S. to resolve this long-standing dispute.

“There wasn’t any obvious value to the island. It doesn’t have any trees. And so both sides ignored it.”

In 1832 the British stopped ignoring it and built a lighthouse as a beacon for ships bound for Saint John, N.B. The island has been occupied by the good guys ever since. Tony Diamond, a biology professor at the University of New Brunswick, is a frequent summer visitor with a fascination for puffins.

In response to Mr. Barton’s July 4th forays, he would mark out tern nests with Canadian flags.

“I took great pleasure in that,” he says. “Mr. Barton would have to walk past about 100 of these things.”

A happy truce has always existed among the international birding crowd. Professor Diamond works with American graduate students and shares his research with his American peers. Meanwhile, the three tourist boats that make daily trips to the island during the summer months carry 15 birders from Maine — and 15 from New Brunswick.

Less harmonious is the relationship between the lobstermen. The waters around Machias Seal Island, known as the Grey Zone, are bobbing with boats from both sides of the disputed boundary from July through November.

Getty Images / ThinkStock files Home to sea birds, seals, a lighthouse, two Canadian lighthouse keepers and a collection of summer researchers, the island represents an old, unresolved dispute between the two nations.

“The working relationship between the two fleets is strained,” says Laurence Cook, chairman of the Grand Manan, N.B., Fishermen’s Association.

“Fishers from both sides feel the waters belong to them. There are aggressive hotheads on both sides of the border and when two of them collide things get nasty quickly.

“In general there is a “cease fire” between the boats on the water, but no one rests easy, as with a Middle Eastern ceasefire one whack job on either side could start a war any time.”

Reports of traps being cut, and threats being uttered are not uncommon.

Mr. Kelly, a former American diplomat posted in Ottawa and a summer resident of Jonesport, suggests that the skirmish over lobster is nothing compared to what could erupt if, for example, an oil sands of oil reserves were discovered beneath the waves.

“If you look at what is happening in the South China Sea with the Spratly Islands, they are a hot property — everybody wants a piece of them — China, Taiwan, the Philippines — because of the resources,” Mr. Kelly says. “But with Machias Seal Island there is nothing there but the lobster. It is when there is nothing major at stake that it is easy to resolve issues, and not after you discover diamonds.”

Paul Cranford, 59, the former lighthouse keeper, spent 20 years on the island, working 28 days on and 28 days off. He was always friendly with Barna Norton, the crusty captain.

“In Barna’s mind it really meant something to plant the flag,” he says “But we just laughed at him.”

Mr. Cranford was planted, too, a corporeal, year-round Canadian presence on a hardscrabble rock — outfitted with a fully automated lighthouse — and beset by an international property dispute between two otherwise friendly neighbours.

“It was the perfect job,” says the lighthouse keeper from Cape Breton with a passion for fiddle music. “I knew it was a more or less secure position because of the territorial dispute — and I had plenty of time to practice my fiddle.

“But I never got a swollen head thinking that I was protecting us from those evil Americans.”

National Post

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-haven-for-puffins-tranquil-island-off-nova-scotia-is-a-rare-piece-of-disputed-territory-between-canada-and-the-u-s/feed5stdHome to sea birds, seals, a lighthouse, two Canadian lighthouse keepers, a couple of out buildings and a collection of summer researchers with a particular interest in puffins, Machias Seal Island is, on most days, a tranquil spot.Machias Seal Island Home to sea birds, seals, a lighthouse, two Canadian lighthouse keepers and a collection of summer researchers, the island represents an old, unresolved dispute between the two nations.Maine and Maryland first U.S. states to approve same-sex marriage by popular votehttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/maine-and-maryland-first-u-s-states-to-approve-same-sex-marriage-by-popular-vote
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Maine and Maryland have become the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote.

The outcomes in Maine and Maryland broke a 32-state streak, dating back to 1998, in which gay marriage had been rebuffed by every state that held a vote on it. They will become the seventh and eighth states to allow same-sex couples to marry.

“For the first time, voters in Maine and Maryland voted to allow loving couples to make lifelong commitments through marriage — forever taking away the right-wing talking point that marriage equality couldn’t win on the ballot,” said Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group.

Washington state also was voting on a measure to legalize same-sex marriage, though results were not expected until Wednesday at the soonest. Minnesota voters also rejected a conservative-backed amendment that would place a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution.

The outcomes in the four states could possibly influence the U.S. Supreme Court, which will soon be considering whether to take up cases challenging the law that denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages.

Maine’s referendum on same-sex marriage marked the first time that gay-rights supporters put the issue to a popular vote. They collected enough signatures over the summer to schedule the vote, hoping to reverse the outcome of a 2009 referendum that quashed a gay-marriage law enacted by the Legislature.

In both Maryland and Washington, gay-marriage laws were approved by lawmakers and signed by the governors earlier this year, but opponents gathered enough signatures to challenge the laws.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who campaigned vigorously for approval of the marriage measure, spoke to a jubilant crowd in Baltimore, which celebrated with hugs, dancing and popping of balloons.

“Every child’s home deserves to be protected under the law,” O’Malley said.

The president of the most active advocacy group opposing same-sex marriage, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage, insisted the Maryland and Maine results did not mark a watershed moment.

“At the end of the day, we’re still at 32 victories and they’ve got two,” he said. “Just because two extreme blue states vote for gay marriage doesn’t mean the Supreme Court will create a constitutional right for it out of thin air.”

Heading into the election, gay marriage was legal in six states and the District of Columbia — in each case the result of legislation or court orders, not by a vote of the people.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/maine-and-maryland-first-u-s-states-to-approve-same-sex-marriage-by-popular-vote/feed3stdToronto Blue Jays fail to complete series sweep with loss to Texas RangersMaine coast has much to offer skilled paddlers unafraid of a ‘kayak toilet’http://news.nationalpost.com/life/maine-coast-has-much-to-offer-skilled-paddlers-unafraid-of-a-kayak-toilet
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For many Maine coast visitors, a sea kayaking trip means a quick few hours on rented boats along the coast of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor with a chartered guide. The trips are well organized, they offer basic safety and kayak instructions and will bring you to places where you can observe the resident seals, sea birds and some incredible scenery around the harbour and its surroundings. Plus, you will be home for dinner.

But for those with the necessary time, equipment and knowledge, nothing beats a multi-day trip. The stealth of a kayak offers an incredible platform from which to observe wildlife above, on and beneath the ocean’s surface.

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Waterfowl, porpoises, seals and – if you’re lucky – whales, will swim along with you and your boat.

As you peer into the water from your kayak, you can see lion’s mane jellyfish. Closer to shore, you’ll notice crabs and lobsters going about their daily business.

These sights happen not on your time, but on nature’s time; and a multi-day trip allows Mother Nature a chance to provide them.

The coast of Maine has close to 3,000 islands, though many are just outcroppings of rock, where waves come to die. They all offer spectacular scenery from the time they break the horizon until you skirt toward them with your kayak. Fewer than 10 per cent are inhabited. About 60 are government owned and offer day or overnight accommodations.

The springboard for multiday sea kayaking expeditions on the Maine coast is the lobster town of Stonington, on Deer Isle, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. In this area, self-guided trips are the norm, not the exception.

From the main fishing dock in Stonington, you can see a half-dozen islands often visited by kayakers. These are part of Merchant’s Row, named after one of the first settlers in the area, Anthony Merchant. Many of these islands were quarried for their granite for a good part of the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the quarries are still active.

Privately owned Buckle Island, less than 5 kilometres from Stonington, serves as a great first-night stay over. If anything has been forgotten, it’s an easy ride back to town. That’s because the trip to Buckle Island takes less than one hour to complete – including some scenic detours.

The six acre, privately held island has only one campsite, one pebble beach and a view of the Atlantic that is yours alone to admire. It’s available on a first come, first served basis to members of the Maine Island Trail Association.

For a small annual fee ($45 U.S.), MITA members gain access to 200 islands spanning the coast of Maine. The islands snake their way through protected bays, estuaries, exposed capes and bluffs. Like Buckle, most are uninhabited and most provide only a landing site for your kayak and a knoll of grass for your tent – and plenty of solitude.

The weather can be a game changer on multi-day excursions, but because you are so close to Stonington from any of the islands, you can abort a five-day trip and bring it back in less than a day.

Loading up your kayak for a multi-day outing on the ocean requires some forethought. You will find no dépanneurs on the islands, and in most cases there is no cellphone service to allow you to summon help if need be. Although you’re surrounded by water, fresh water is worth more than its weight in gold. It’s essential that you carry it with you, for hydration and meal preparation, as on these islands, fresh water is hard to come by.

So the kayaks must be loaded with food, fresh water, fuel, tents and foul-weather gear, all well balanced and stowed tightly within the dry bulkheads – except for the VHF marine radios, marine charts and GPS, which stay on the foredeck.

Ocean kayaking, even in protected waters like those surrounding Stonington, requires you to be prepared for changes in weather, and aware of some of the hazards you might face. The waves crashing over the bow and rolling up to your face will spark a survival instinct that you never thought existed. Your boat is low in the water and hard to see at the best of times. Choppy seas will make you invisible to oncoming boats. Winds make it hard for you to communicate with your buddies (you will need to use a lot of body language). Fog will always be your worst enemy. It brings smooth waters and the temptation to venture farther out, but it brings deception about where you are and what surrounds you, and makes you forget about the currents lurking below. GPS and proper marine charts (and knowing how to use them) become essential.

Communication with the outside world and, in many instance, with your travelling companions, will rely on VHF marine radios. Those radios will be essential in any emergencies.

Planning for three squares a day for an ocean-going kayak is often done months ahead of time. For Canadians, the best plan is to write down your meals in advance, and make sure the ingredients are available at the local store, because U.S. Customs authorities are not likely to let you cross the border with fresh produce, meats and dairy for a weeklong kayak trip. Depending on what time of year you set out, you can partly refrigerate some of your food during your kayaking trip by keeping it close to the hull of the boat. Because the islands have a Leave No Trace policy, packaged foods (including cans) are a liability. You can usually make it back from a weeklong trip with less than half a kitchen garbage bag per person.

Eating fresh lobster on a deserted Maine island is one of summer’s most enjoyable experiences. But catching a lobster in Maine without a proper license is strictly forbidden. It is much wiser to paddle to the closest lobster pound – they are all over the coast – purchase the crustaceans, have them cooked and then paddle back to your island, where your companions have set up camp for you.

Stonington is one of the most active lobster fishing villages in Maine. Many kayakers see buying lobster from these boats as a way to meet some of the locals and land a few cheap lobsters. Too few realize that the fishermen are working on deadline and are in no mood to haggle over the price of a couple of twopounders. But most will be happy to share their stories after the boats are unloaded and moored for the night.

The Leave No Trace policy also applies to human waste on these mostly granite islands. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has developed a kayak toilet. It costs about $20. blm.gov/or/ resources/recreation/ rogue/portable-toiletskayak.php

In general, the ocean is much calmer in the early morning hours. So be prepared to be on the water at the time you usually get up at home. This means planning for breakfast, breaking down camp, loading up boats and going through the sail plan of the day.

You should also plan on being out of the water by early afternoon. This gives you a good buffer should any mishaps occur during the day.

The Maine coast offers journeys of great solitude on the ocean. As you set foot on islands and nestle your kayak in secluded bays, you are transported back centuries.

On your return paddle after a multi-day trip, you feel a sense apprehension as you return to civilization – and you’re happy that at least you are arriving at the village of Stonington, and not a big city.

IF YOU GO

Stonington, Maine, is an eight-hour drive from Montreal. Most of the 800 kilometres will be on a single-lane highway.

Accommodations are limited in Stonington. Boyce’s Motel (800-224-2421) and the Inn on the Harbor (800-942-2420) are on Main St. in the centre of town.

The Old Quarry Campground & Ocean Adventures (207-367-8977) is located less than 10 minutes away from the centre of town. It provides campsites, kayak rentals and is an outfitter for multi-day trips on the islands surrounding Stonington.

Many of the islands around Stonington are accessible only with a membership with the Maine Island Trail Association. The $45 yearly membership is available at mita.org/join. MITA offers 24 destinations between the Stonington area and Isle au Haut, part of Acadia National Park. Isle au Haut was first charted by Samuel de Champlain in 1604. There are five campsites on Isle au Haut and neighbouring islets, including Acadia’s Duck Harbor Campground, which is available to non-kayakers. Reservations are required. nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/ duckharbor.htm. As well, there are some B&Bs.

Best time to go: The month of June is still cool on the water and will bring in some offshore fog, but until the Fourth of July the crowds are small. The summer months are the most crowded on the islands, so plan on setting up your campsite early in the afternoon. September and October bring the warmest water, but this is the height of hurricane season. Storms marching up the coast will bring heavy waves for a number of days and could hinder a multi-day outing.

KITTERY, Maine — A fire on a nuclear-powered submarine at a Maine shipyard has injured seven people, including five firefighters, but did not affect the reactor, which was not active.

Handout / U.S. NavyThere were no weapons aboard the sub, which is at the shipyard for system upgrades and maintenance.

Crews responded at about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday to the USS Miami SSN 755 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on an island in Kittery, a town near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was not clear how many people were aboard the submarine at the time.

Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge, commander of Submarine Group Two, said the fire was out Thursday morning and the shipyard was open as usual. He said the three shipyard firefighters, two civilian firefighters and two crew members received minor injuries and were in good shape.

Breckenridge called their efforts heroic, saying the extreme heat and smoke in the contained spaces made it very challenging for them. “Their efforts clearly minimized the severity of this event,” he said at a brief news conference.

Breckenridge said the fire started in the four forward compartments, which include living and command and control spaces. The sub’s reactor, isolated in another part of the sub, had been shut down for a few months at the time and was unaffected. Breckenridge said it “remains in a safe and stable condition.”

No weapons were on board.

Breckenridge said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The USS Miami has a crew of 13 and 120 enlisted personnel. It arrived at the shipyard on March 1 to undergo maintenance work. It was commissioned in 1990.

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]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/fire-on-nuclear-submarine-in-u-s-shipyard-injures-7-including-5-firefighters/feed0stdSmoke rises from a dry dock as fire crews respond Wednesday to a fire on the USS Miami SSN 755 submarine at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on an island in Kittery, Maine.There were no weapons aboard the sub, which is at the shipyard for system upgrades and maintenance. Maine's scenic lobster boats are rife with subterfugehttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/maines-scenic-lobster-boats-are-rife-with-subturfuge
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/maines-scenic-lobster-boats-are-rife-with-subturfuge#commentsFri, 11 May 2012 20:00:26 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=172696

FRIENDSHIP, Maine — The sinking of two lobster boats is rekindling memories of hostilities among lobstermen three years ago that led to a near-fatal shooting, boats being sunk and a barrage of lobster trap vandalism along Maine’s lobster-rich coast.

Someone this week sabotaged two lobster boats, allowing them to drift free and flood with water before washing ashore in this postcard-pretty harbour. The dispute has shone a light on the unwritten rules of the sea, where fishermen often take matters into their own hands to settle grudges.

Lobstermen for generations have cut trap lines and shouted threats to settle differences over who can set their traps where. In more extreme instances, they’ve been known to ram boats and fire warning shots into the air.

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The vandalism crossed the line late Monday night, when the 28-foot (8.5-meter) Lobstah Taxi and the 35-foot (10.6-meter) Fantaseas were sunk. Only a portion of the larger boat’s cabin was above water when it was found Tuesday morning on an island outside the harbour. The smaller boat was found on a mainland beach, but escaped serious damage.

Investigators don’t know if the attacks were the result of a personal vendetta or a territorial feud. At the least, they’ve brought unwanted attention to this fishing community 75 miles (121 kilometres) northeast of Portland.

“It’s sad, awful sad,” said lobsterman Doug Simmons, 60, as he worked on his gear Thursday in preparation for setting his traps in the coming weeks. “It’s cost people a lot of money.”

The boats were owned by Gary Jones and his 15-year-old son, Logan, who live in the neighbouring town of Cushing, said Marine Patrol Sgt. Rene Cloutier, who is investigating with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.

“There’s nothing that says this is a territorial thing,” Cloutier said. “It could be, but nothing points that way now.”

Gary Jones has been on the receiving end of vandalism before. In 2009, another Cushing lobsterman was charged with cutting 22 of his lobster buoys. At the time, Jones said trap and gear vandalism had cost him nearly $10,000 over three years.

Gary Jones’ wife, Tina Jones, said she and her husband aren’t commenting on this week’s incident, adding that her husband and son are hard-working fishermen.

This week’s boat sinkings are bringing back memories of 2009, when hostilities especially were in high gear.

On remote Matinicus Island, 20 miles (32 kilometres) offshore, a lobsterman fired a handgun at two fellow lobstermen, hitting one in the neck in a near-fatal dispute over lobster traps. A jury later found Vance Bunker not guilty of elevated aggravated assault.

Two weeks after the shooting, someone sank two lobster boats and damaged a third in Owls Head, another midcoast fishing harbour. Throughout the summer, police investigated a rash of complaints about lobster trap lines being cut, resulting in lost lobster gear.

Last year was relatively calm, but the sinkings in Friendship are raising questions about whether this coming summer will be heated.

For now, there aren’t any indicators that tensions are ready to erupt, “knock on wood,” said Marine Patrol Maj. Alan Talbot.

“Hopefully it’s just a random thing,” he said. “But who knows what’s to come.”